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A comparative evaluation of supportive apartments, group homes, and board‐and‐care homes for psychiatric consumer/survivors
Author(s) -
Nelson Geoffrey,
Hall G. Brent,
WalshBowers Richard
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6629(199703)25:2<167::aid-jcop6>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - psychology , supportive housing , gerontology , qualitative research , mental health , life satisfaction , medicine , psychiatry , social psychology , social science , sociology
In this research, we examined the processes and outcomes of supportive housing for psychiatric consumer/survivors. To determine the relative effectiveness of supportive apartments (SA) and group homes (GH) operated by non‐profit mental health agencies, we used a longitudinal design with a non‐equivalent comparison group of people residing in private, for‐profit board‐and‐care homes (BCH). A total of 107 psychiatric consumer/survivors completed an initial interview and a follow‐up interview one year later. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the interviews. In terms of housing and social support processes, the residents of SA and GH were more likely to have their own room, to spend less of their income on rent, and to have more control in decision‐making in the residences than people living in BCH. Residents of group facilities (GH and BCH) had more staff support, more emotional and problem‐solving support, and less emotional abuse than residents of SA. The outcome analyses showed that residents in all three types of housing increased their involvement in instrumental roles (e.g., work, education) over time, and residents of SA and GH reported more changes in terms of personal growth and increased community involvement and showed increases in independent functioning, as rated by staff, than residents of BCH. However, none of the groups showed improvement over time on measures of perceived control, resident‐rated independent functioning, meaningful activity, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of previous literature and implications for future research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.